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Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 25 No. 3 2007

Changes in the Labor Supply Behavior of Married Women: 1980–2000

Francine D. Blau1,2; Lawrence M. Kahn2

1 National Bureau of Economic Research · 2 Cornell University

Abstract

Using March Current Population Survey data, we investigate married women’s labor supply from 1980 to 2000. We find a large rightward shift in their labor supply function for annual hours in the 1980s, with little shift in the 1990s. These shifts account for most of the slowdown in the growth of labor supply during this period. A major development was the dramatic decrease in the responsiveness of married women’s labor supply to their own and husbands’ wages: their own wage elasticity fell by 50%–56%, while their cross wage elasticity fell by 38%–47% in absolute value.

DOI
10.1086/513416
Volume
25
Issue
3
Pages
393-438
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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